


Her Own Cat

by KatLeePT



Category: Batman (Comics), Catwoman (Comics), Gotham (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 16:13:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4144209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatLeePT/pseuds/KatLeePT
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three times, he took her across the world, and all three times, he returned alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Her Own Cat

He still remembers the first time he asked her if she wanted to skip town for a bit. It was a phrase he'd picked up from her during her rare moments of open dreaming. She had declined his first offer, but he hadn't given up. He never gave up where she was concerned. A year later, he had asked again, and this time, after he'd just protected her from a Kingpin, she'd actually said yes.  
  
He had offered to take her wherever she wanted to go, and she had chosen France. He'd been delighted when she had not declined his gifts of pretty dresses and delicate chocolates. For a short time, he had gotten to treat her as a lady, but then one morning, she'd disappeared on him. He had searched for her for months before listening to Alfred, finally going home, and finding her back on the streets of Gotham. He questioned her about her disappearance, but she never gave him any answers.  
  
Selina Kyle was a mystery, and every time Bruce thought he had the girl figured out, she surprised him yet again. Like a wild cat, she'd come to eat from his fingers every once in a while when she got too ravished for attention, but every time he grew close to her, she fled him again. But a year later, she let him take her to see the Sphinx.  
  
They had slipped into the country without going through customs, and a few hundred dollar bills had persuaded the guards at the natural wonder to look the other way. He had watched her as she'd climbed, every bit as beautiful as the Sphinx, and when she'd reached the top and the sun had sparkled on her curly, brown hair, Bruce's breath had literally caught in his throat. He'd always known she was beautiful, but somehow, through growing up with her in his life, he'd overlooked just how stunning she was becoming. She might search for treasure, jewels, and money, but right then in that place, so far from home, he knew she would always be his treasure.  
  
Yet, just like treasure through a greedy man's fingers, she slipped out again when he wasn't looking. He'd gone to sleep one night in their hotel room, and when he'd awakened the next morning, she had been gone again. Her bed had not even had the appearance of having been slept in. This time, he searched for only a month before Commissioner Gordon called his private cell phone with news of Selina's return to Gotham. Bruce shook his head and booked the next flight out of Egypt.  
  
Now a year later and despite his better judgement, he offers to take her across the world again. There's just something about the look in her eyes, when she thinks she isn't watching, that makes him unable to turn him away, melts his barriers, and makes him, instead, want to do anything he can to please her. It's a dangerous game. Alfred's warned him about it, but like a mouse with not enough sense to hide from a cat, he keeps going back into her claws.  
  
They fly together to Africa the very next night. It's morning when they enter the jungle without guides, another thing against which Alfred has warned Bruce. It's steaming already; he can see the heat wafting up off of the ground and the huge, green leaves that seem to surround them at every corner. Yet, again, Selina has never looked more beautiful as, like any tiger, she is quite at home in the jungle.  
  
True to her namesake, Cat seeks out the other cats of the land. The great beasts stay hidden, however, until gunshots alert them to their presence. He's never seen Selina act so swiftly except when she's come to his aid. He watches her in amazement, helping where he can but unable, yet, to do much. In a matter of moments, Cat has the poachers down, her own claws against the throat of their leader.  
  
"Let 'em go, Cat," he whispers to her, and when she looks up at him, green eyes wild, he feels the first chill of fear around her. "Let them go," he persists, however, walking closer. "We'll let the authorities handle them."  
  
"They'll be back killing in days," she snarls. "The only way to stop a killer is to kill them, Bruce."  
  
His hands reach out to her. "You become a killer," he says softly, ignoring the fact that she's already killed once to protect him, "if you kill."  
  
"So? I'm not your good girl, Bruce. I'm a wild cat, and they were going to kill that whole family of tigers!"  
  
"I don't expect you to be a good girl, Selina. You are my tiger, my Cat. Don't let them do this to you."  
  
She throws the poacher to the ground in disgust as she glowers at him. "I am no one's cat," she ferociously reminds him, "but my own." She stalks away from Bruce and the other males, the tigers flanking her. He tries to follow, but they move too swiftly for him. He already knows she won't be at the hotel when he reaches it, so he doesn't even bother. He takes the first plane back home.  
  
Now, trained at last and older, he watches over his city. He's lurking for another killer who escaped from Arkham earlier today. Her words echo in his mind.  _The only way to stop a killer is to kill them._  Perhaps she was right all those years ago, he thinks, sensing movement. He turns his head and watches as she swings by, ignoring him and pursuing her latest cause. His heart aches with the knowledge that he was also right as he lets her go.  
  
The End

 

**Author's Note:**

> All characters within belong to DC Comics, not the author, and are used without permission.


End file.
